What is for dinner

Blog #292 of 330

December 29th, 2009 - 07:54 PM

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I can't help myself. When the calendar reaches January, my mind conjures up images of winters past with snow and blowing cold. Even though I live in Florida, come January I get that "rumbley in my tumbley" for a crock full of homemade soup.

I love soup. I know it's not a guy thing, and nothing like real meat and potatoes, but it's user friendly. No matter what you put in the pot, it comes out smelling and tasting like fine wine or the best in epicurean cooking. And when you're done, you feel like you've accomplished something.

In the winter, soup warms your bones. In tough times, it fills your stomach. When there are many mouths to feed, you can thin and stretch soup to fill every hungry mouth. People who turn their noses up at leftovers, slurp down every sumptuous bite that is hidden between stirs of a bubbling pot of melding flavors.

Soup is like life itself: a pinch of this, a dab of that, some bittersweet, some sugar, some spice mixed together with faith, hope and love. Simmering through the highs and lows, the combination becomes the essence of a life well lived; a life remembered.

Is it any wonder that my favorite channel is the food channel? I believe that people who can decorate cakes with sculpted roses, create flavorful recipes, and present with style can match any artist's creativity. Come to think of it, that soup is so colorful I see shapes forming, values changing, and my imagination soaring just like it did over my alphabet soup when I was a kid.

Got brain freeze and painter's block? Get back to basics and warm up with a bowl of hot yummy soup. Happy New Year everybody!

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Carol Allen Anfinsen

14 Years Ago

St. Paul, MN

Brrrrr, Julie! My blood has thinned so much down here iin Florida, we're freezing here. The high was 53 today and the lows about 33 or less. The homes aarn'e insulated as well down here, so we really feel it. Since pork is on sale, we had shredded BBQ pork today.

Julie Lueders

14 Years Ago

Phoenix, AZ

Carol I love that your from Minnesota, I feel I know you. I meet the nicest people from Minnesota. I like Diane's soup idea potato and bacon for me today. Carol wish I was in Floria today, -27 degrees today. BrRRR

Diane Daigle

14 Years Ago

Bowmanville, ON

Up until Christmas it was really rather mild and no snow yet here in southern Ontario.... we even had rain but no snow! Just one snowfall so far,,, not nearly enough to leave any remnants behind so it didn't feel right for the season,,, BUT,,, now it is really cold!! Still no snow yet so I had cream of bacon and potato soup for lunch today,,, seemed the right thing to do.... :>)

Carol Allen Anfinsen

14 Years Ago

St. Paul, MN

Julie, I call Burnsville, MN my home still. Wild Rice soup is one of my favorites. I used to get it at Byerley's frozen, but now have a recipe that closely matches theirs.. Bon appetite! Linda, thanks for sharing. It's true color, line, shape are everywhere. The only thing that holds us back sometimes is imagination.

Linda Bright Toth

14 Years Ago

Emerald Isle, NC

Well, it was meatloaf and rice for us tonight, but if you think about it, you can see the beginning of a painting in almost any food. My sister is a gourmet cook and she has created some masterpieces through the years. Her dishes speak to us, through the aromas, the colorful presentations, and the love she puts into it. I have always told her, "sista, you cook it and I'll paint it". :)

Julie Lueders

14 Years Ago

Phoenix, AZ

Wonderful Carol! Cold here in Minnesota, making wild rice soup, creamy, chalked full of colorful carrots, celery, wild rice. Yum, thanks to your inspiration, my belly will be filled with goodness and my eyes full of colorful creativity. Perfectly sublime.